Headlines from China: Jia Zhangke Responds To Criticism From Global Times Editor

Renowned Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke’s latest film Ash Is Purest White released in China last Friday and has become the director’s highest-grossing film. However, on September 23, Hu Xijin, Editor-in-chief of state media Global Times, posted comments on the film on Chinese social media Weibo, criticizing the film for spreading negative energy and telling a depressing story of good people ending up in bad situations. Hu then deleted the post. On September 25, Jia Zhangke published a long post as a response to Hu’s criticism. Jia said that there is powerful positive energy in telling the truth. Any efforts to ignore or cover up the truth will end up creating negative energy. Hu then posted on Weibo again to respond to Jia’s argument. Hu expressed agreement on Jia’s opinions and explained that he couldn’t help expressing his personal feelings right after watching the film but then realized that his criticism was not thoughtful enough. Read more on Mtime

Recently, an increasing number of VR Experience sections have been added in big shopping malls in major Chinese cities, such as Beijing and Shenzhen. Is this indicating that the VR market is reviving in China? After paying visits to several VR Experience venues in Shenzhen, the reporter found that the overall technology and quality of VR equipments were not significantly improved. VR venues’ regained popularity is mainly due to the fact that an increasing number of VR venues integrate gamified content in the VR experiences they provide, which attracts a large number of children and teenagers to visit and revisit their venues. While some VR experience providers are able to well integrate game content with VR technology to offer educational experiences, some providers use VR concept as a marketing stunt to offer gaming services. Read more on TMT Post

2018 Indian Hindi drama film Hichki has been scheduled to release in China on October 12. The film is an adaptation of Brad Cohen’s autobiography Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me The Teacher I Never Had. Directed by Siddharth P. Malhotra and starring Rani Mukerji, the film successfully depicts the protagonist’s courage and perseverance as well as reflects upon prejudice in the Indian society and problems in the country’s educational system. Read more on Mtime

China Film Insider reports on and writes about the people and companies making movies that soon may help to bridge the gaps in understanding between China, the United States, and the rest of the world. We work in Beijing, Los Angeles, and New York.